LDF Files En Banc Petition in Case Challenging Qualified Immunity

Today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) along with Cleveland-based civil rights attorney James Hardiman, filed an en banc petition in Howse v. Hodous. The plaintiff, Shase Howse, was accosted and arrested on his front porch by a plainclothes officer. Mr. Howse was tackled, punched in the neck, and arrested without violating “clearly established law.” Mr. Howse lodged excessive force, malicious prosecution, and assault-and-battery claims against the officers, but earlier this month the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the officers did nothing wrong and were protected by qualified immunity, even though they had no cause to arrest Mr. Howse.

Our en banc petition urges the Court to reconsider their decision. Qualified immunity removes accountability from police and far too often allows officers to disregard standards set in place to protect people’s basic rights.